Process for the catalytic preparation of 1,2-polybutadiene having a high percentage of vinyl configuration



United States Patent PROCESS FOR THE CATALYTIC PREPARATION OF 1,2-POLYBUTADIENE HAVING A HIGH PER- CENTAGE OF VINYL CONFIGURATION Mitsuo Ichikawa, Yasumasa Takeuchi, and Akira Kogure, Yokkaichi-shi, and Hisami Kurita, Mic-gun, Mie, Japan, gssignors to Japan Synthetic Rubber 'Co;, Ltd., Tokyo,

apan No Drawing. Filed Sept. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 669,713 Claims priority, application Japan, Sept. 26, 1966, ll/63,159, ll/63,160; July 15, 1967, 42/45,.368 Int. Cl. C08f 3/16, 1/44, 3/04 US. Cl. 260-943 16 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of an unsaturated hydrocarbon polymer and more particularly to a process for the preparation of an unsaturated hydrocarbon polymer having a high percentage of vinyl configuration.

Description of the prior art For preparing a so-called 1,2-polybutadiene, that is, a butadiene polymer having vinyl configuration in a very high percentage among the three configuration modes of cis-1,4 configuration, trans-1,4 configuration and vinyl configuration, there are known the following various processes:

1) A process in which an organornetallic compound of an alkali metal, such as, ethyl lithium and isoamyl lithium, is used as an initiator (1. Polymer Sci.; Part C, No. 4, 173 (1963) and J. Polymer Sci. 61, 155 (1962)).

However, ionic catalysts, such as the above, have a reduced catalytic efliciency, as compared with the Zieglertype catalyst described below. Also, since they tend to be influenced by impurities, particularly water, it is difficult in industrial practice to obtain a high molecular weight polymer and to control the molecular weight by using such a catalyst.

(2) A process in which there is used a so-called Ziegler type catalyst containing, as one component, atransition metal compound. Typical examples of such catalysts are as follows:

(i) Ti(OR) AlR (wherein R represents an alkyl group) (Makromol Chem; 27, 126 (1964)).

(ii) V(ACAC) AlR (wherein R represents an alkyl group and ACAC represents an acetylacetonate group) (Chim. e Ind; 41, 526 (1959)).

(iii) Cr(ACAC) AlR (Chim. e Ind.; 41, 1163 (1959) These catalysts are all heterogeneous and the products contain a large proportion of low molecular weight polymers soluble in ether and acetone. The products are syndiotactic or isotactic and are not rubbery. In particular,

3,498,963 Patented Mar. 3, 1970 the 1,2-content in the products obtained by using the V- series catalyst and Cr-series catalyst is less than 90% or usually about Besides the aforesaid catalysts, there are also known the catalysts of Co (CO) MoCl (Kogyo Kagaku Zasshi; 67, 1652 (1964)) and MoCl -ZnR (U.S.P. 3,232,920), but they are all heterogeneous and a large quantity of catalyst is required to obtain a significantly high catalytic activity. Also, in order to prepare a catalyst having a high catalytic activity, the catalyst must be aged under specific conditions.

As a catalyst for vinyl polymerization of conjugated diolefins other than butadiene, it is known that the aforesaid catalyst, Ti(OR) AlR can polymerize isoprene to a 3,4-polymer. However, by use of this catalyst, 1,3-pentadiene is not polymerized to a 1,2-polymer but polymerized to a 1,4-p0lymer (MakromoL Chem; 72, 126 (1964)). Furthermore, by use of Co(ACAC) Al(C H Cl, 1,3- pentadiene is polymerized to provide a polymer having a 1,2-syndiotactic structure (European Polymer I. 1, 81 (1965)), but butadiene is polymerized to a cis-l,4 polymer.

In addition, Dr. E. Susa reported in I. Polymer Scif; part C, No. 4, 399 (1963) that a cobalt compound-trialkyl aluminum catalyst provided syndiotactic 1,2-polybutadiene but this report is clearly in error (Ind. and Eng. Chem; Product Research and Development, vol. 1, No. 1, page 32, March 1962), which was also confirmed by the inventors.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved process for preparing an unsaturated hydrocarbon polymer having a high percentage of vinyl configuration.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the process of this invention, an unsaturated hydrocarbon polymer having a high percentage of vinyl configuration is prepared by contacting an unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer having 4-10 carbon atoms and represented by the general formula:

CH CHCR =CR R wherein R is a hydrogen atom or a methyl group and R and R represent, respectively, a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 16 carbon atoms or an alkenyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms, with a catalyst prepared by mixing:

(A) a cobalt compound, (B) a phosphine represented by the general formula:

high percentage of the vinyl configuration shown by the following general formula wherein R R and R are as defined above can be obtained. In particular, by the process of this invention, a polymer having a vinyl configuration of more than can be obtained from butadiene, 1,3-pentadiene or 4- methylpentadiene- 1 ,3

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the process of this invention, any polymers from rubbery polymers to resinous polymers may be obtained, as desired, by changing only the kind of phosphine. For example, a polybutadiene obtained by using triphenyl phosphine is a crystalline syndiotactic polymer, While polybutadienes obtained by using ethyldiphenyl phosphine, diethylphenyl phosphine, and triethyl phosphine respectively, are all rubbery polymers and, in particular, a polybutadiene obtained by using triethyl phosphine is a completely amorphous rubbery polymer.

The catalyst systems used in this invention are completely soluble in solvents and no particular aging treatment is necessary in the preparation of the catalyst.

Furthermore, the polymerization rate in the process of this invention is larger than that in conventional methods. For example, in the case of using triphenyl phosphine as the phosphine, a conversion of about 80% can be obtained in several times ten minutes.

Moreover, the process of this invention is not accompanied with the inevitable contamination of the polymer by low molecular Weight polymers soluble in ether, acetone and the like.

Examples of the aforesaid unsaturated hydrocarbon monomers to be used in this invention include butadiene, isoprene, 1,3-pentadiene, hexadiene-1,3, heptadienel,3, octadiene-1,3, n octatriene 1,3,6, n-octatriene-1,3,7, 4- methylpentadiene 1,3, 3-methylpentadiene-1,3, S-methylhexadiene-1,3, 4-methylhexadiene-1,3, 3,7-dimethyloctadi ene-l,3, 5-methyl-1,3, 6-heptatriene and the like.

The cobalt compound used as component (A) of the catalyst of this invention may be any cobalt compound of an apparent valence of from zero to the highest. More practically, there are inorganic acid salts of cobalt, organic acid salts of cobalt and complex compounds of cobalt. The preferable examples of the cobalt compounds used in this invention are inorganic acid salts such as cobalt chloride, cobalt bromide, cobalt iodide, cobalt sulfate, cobalt sulfide, cobalt nitrate, cobalt carbonate, cobalt phosphate, cobalt cyanate, cobalt thiocyanate, and cobalt hydroxide; organic acid salts such as cobalt acetate, cobalt oxalate, cobalt valerate, cobalt octenoate, cobalt naphthenate, and cobalt stearate; and complex compounds of cobalt such as cobalt bisacetylacetonate, cobalt bisacetoacetate, cobalt bisdiethylmalonate, cobalt bisdimethylglyoxim, dicyclopentadienylcobalt, bis 1,5 cyclooctadiene cobalt, cyclopentadienylcobalt cyclooctatetraene, cobalt trisacetylacetonate, cobalt triascetoacetnate, cyclopentadienylcobalt dicarbonyl, tri-1r-allyl cobalt, cyclohexadiene cobalt dicar bonyl, dicobalt octacarbonyl, dibutadienecobalt tetracarbonyl, butadienecobalt hexacarbonyl and the like.

The phosphine used as component (B) of the catalyst in this invention is shown, as mentioned above, by the general formula PR R R (wherein R, R and R represent, respectively, an alkyl group, an aryl group or a hydrogen atom). The preferable alkyl group in the formula is a straight chain-, branched chain-, or cyclic-alkyl group having 1-8 carbon atoms, such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, hexyl, octyl, and cyclohexyl groups. As the aryl group, phenyl and tolyl groups are preferable. The preferable examples of the phosphine include trimethyl phosphine, triethyl phosphine, tripropyl phosphine, tributyl phosphine, triphenyl phosphine trioctyl phosphine, tricyclohexyl phosphine, monomethyl phosphine, dimethyl phosphine, diethylphenyl posphine, dibutylphenyl phosphine, ethyldiphenyl phosphine, butyldiphenyl phosphine, diethyl phosphine, ethyl posphine, diphenyl phosphine, rnonophenyl phosphine, cyclotetramethylene-phenyl phosphine, and the like.

The organoaluminum compgund used as component (C) of the catalyst in this invention is shown, as mentioned abov by he g neral formula A1R R R herein R", R and R represent, respectively, alkyl group or aryl group). The preferable alkyl group is a straight chain or branched chain alkyl group having 1-8 carbon atoms, such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, hexyl, and octyl groups and also the preferable aryl group is phenyl group although other aryl groups may be used. The preferable examples of the organoaluminum compound used in this invention include trimethyl aluminum, triethyl aluminum, tripropyl aluminum, triisobutyl aluminum, trihexyl aluminum, trioctyl aluminum and triphenyl aluminum.

The catalyst in this invention can be prepared by mixingaforesaid catalyst compounds (A), (B), (C) and (D), but since in the case of using cobalt halides, cobalt cyanate or cobalt thiocyanate, the cobalt compound forms with the phosphine a complex compound shown by the general formula CoX (PR R R (where X represents a halogen atom, CN, or SCN and R, R and R are as defined above), the cobalt-phosphine complex compound, which has previously been prepared, may be used instead of mixing the cobalt compound and the phosphine separately. The use of such a complex compound is particularly preferable since the amount of it may be less than the case of adding the two ingredients separately due to the complex compound being soluble in the solvent. Also, the polymer formed has a higher percentage of vinyl configuration.

Preferable examples of such a cobalt phosphine complex compound include bistriethyl phosphine cobalt chloride, bistriethyl phosphine cobalt bromide, bistriethyl phosphine cobalt iodide, bistriethyl phosphine cobalt thiocyanate, bistriphenyl phosphine cobalt chloride, bistriphenyl phosphine cobalt bromide, bistriphenyl phosphine cobalt iodide, bistriphenyl phosphine cobalt cyanate, bistributyl phosphine cobalt chloride, bistrioctyl phosphine cobalt bromide, bisdiethylphenyl phosphine cobalt bromide, bisethyldiphenyl phosphine cobalt bromide, bisdi phenyl phosphine cobalt chloride, bismonophenyl phosphine cobalt chloride, bistricyclohexyl phosphine cobalt iodide, bistriphenyl phosphine cobalt thiocyanate, bistributyl phosphine cobalt thiocyanate, and the like. The complex compounds of cobalt halides with phosphines are particularly preferable.

The catalyst of the present invention may be prepared by mixing the aforesaid catalyst components in a desired order in, preferably, a hydrocarbon solvent or a halogenated hydrocarbon solvent. The catalyst may be prepared by mixing the components before being contacted with the unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer to be polymerized or may he prepared by mixing the compounds in a reaction vessel in the presence of a part or Whole of the unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer to be polymerized. There is no particular limit to the temperature for preparing the catalyst, but usually a range of 0 C. to 50'' is preferred.

The mixing ratios of the catalyst components may be selected arbitrarily according to the kinds of the components, the polymerization conditions and the properties of the polymer to be prepared but the molar ratio of Co/Al is usually from about 1/1 to about 1/2000, preferably from about l/SO to about 1/ 1000. In case where the insoluble cobalt compound is employed, it is preferable to use about equi-m0l of the compound to the aluminum compound.

The proportion of the phosphine is, in the case of using the phosphine as a previously prepared cobalt-phosphine complex compound, 2 mols per one mol of the cobalt compound, but in general the proportion of the phosphine is from about 0.5 to about mols, preferably from about 1.0 mol to about 50 mols per one mol of the cobalt compound.

The proportion of water, which is component (D) of the catalyst, is related to the proportion of the organo aluminum compound. That is, if the amount of water is less than about 025 mol or h gher t an 1.5 mols pet one mol of the organo aluminum compound, the polymerization activity of the catalyst is completely lost or extremely reduced. Thus, preferable amount'of water is from about 0.5 mol to about 1.0 mol per one mol of the organo aluminum compound. In addition, the amount of water in this case refers to the total amount of water 5 Also, polybutadiene obtained from butadiene by the present in the polymerization system. process of this invention and having a high percentage The polymerization reaction of this invention may be of vinyl configuration can be blended with natural rubconducted continuously or in a batch system by conber, styrene-butadiene rubber, cis-l,4-polybutadiene rubtacting the unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer with the her, and is useful as a base polymer of a graft polymer as aforesaid catalyst in a hydrocarbon solvent or a halowell as raw materials for preparing high molecular weight genated hydrocarbon solvent. plastics materials having good heat resistance.

The amount of the catalyst used in the polymerization The practice of the invention will be explained more in reaction is usually about 0.001-1 millimol, preferably detail in the following examples, but it should be under- 0.01-0.5 millimol based on the amount of the cobalt stood that the invention shall not be limited by the compound per one mol of the monomer. examples.

The polymerization temperature is usually about In the following examples, the intrinsic viscosity [1;] C. to about 100 0, preferably about 0 C. to about 80 was measured as a toluene solution at 30 C., and also the C. There is no limitation to the pressure for thepolymmicrostructure of the polymers was measured by infrared erization, but it must be sufiicient to maintain the reaction 20 absorption spectra and by NMR absorption spectra. mixture in substantially a liquid phase.

As the hydrocarbon solvent or halogenated hydrocar- EXAMPLE 1 bon solvent used in the polymerization reaction or for Methylene chloride, butadiene, cobalt bis-acetylacethe preparation of the catalyst, there may be used an tonate, triphehyl p p methyl aluminum and Water aliphatic hydrocarbon, such as, n-pentane, n-hexane, nwere charged, in this order, in a 100 ml. glass tube at heptane, iso-octane and the like; an alicyclic hydrocar- 50 C. under a nitrogen gas atmosphere and the glass tube bon, such as cyclohexane, D'ecalin, tetrahydronaphthalene Wa al d- Th total Volume of the mixture in the glass and the like; an aromatic hydrocarbon, such as, benzene, tube was 50 ml., the molar ratio of Al/Co/P/butadiene toluene, xylene, cumene and the like; and a halogenated n the IIliXtllre W35 430/1/2/10Q000, and the Concentrahydrocarbon, such as, methylene chloride, chloroform, tion of butadiene in the mixture was 2.0 mol/liter, while carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethylene, perchloroethylene, the a ount of Water was varied as shown in Table l. chloro'benzene, bromobenzene, chlorotoluene and the like. The polymerization reaction was carried out'for 18 hours However, considering the polymerization activity, the use at 10 C. while stirring. of the halogenated hydrocarbon solvent is generally After the end of the polymerization reaction, the sealed preferable, glass tube was opened and the content was poured in Furthermore, it is preferable to conduct the polymerimethanol containing a small amount of an antioxidant, zation reaction and the preparation of the catalyst in an phenylfi -naph hy min whe by the reaction was inert gas atmosphere, such as, notrogen and argon. stopped and at the same time the polymer thus formed When the polymerization reaction has proceeded to a was coagulated and precipitated. The precipitate was predetermined stage, the reaction is stopped by adding 9 separated from the system and dried under a reduced a polymerization terminating agent. As the polymerizapressure at a room temperature. By an X-ray diffraction tion terminating agent there may be used water, an alcoanalysis, it was confirmed that the product was polyhol, or an organic acid, but it is desirable to use a combutadiene showing a crystalline property. pound usually used as an antioxidant, such as, phenyl-fi- The results are shown in Table 1. naphthylamine and 2,6-di-tert. butyl p-cresol. If the reac- TABLE 1 tion mixture is contacted with air before the addition of the antioxidant, the polymer product tends to gelate to audgi i sf i iiift Polymer form an insoluble polymer. After stopping the reaction, $3 5, 3 the polymer thus formed is separated from the remaining reaction mixture and dried to provide a desired poly- Q: 1:11:1 1 g mer b conventional means. 1.0 1:8 5:2 014 9414 The 01 mer obtained by the process of this inven tion has us iially more than 60% vinyl configuration and i product Syndlotactlc Y P M was by selecting the suitable polymerization conditions, po1y ble in benzene and toluene and contained almost no gels. mers having more than 99% vinyl fi ti can be The product was however insoluble in isooctane and. obtained. Further, by selecting the polymerization conacetone. ditions, particularly, the kind of the phosphine, the poly- EXAMPLE 2 mer Obtained can be changed from crystalline t0 amor- The same procedure as in Example 1 was repeated exphous. Thus, the high molecular weight amorphous polycept that anhydrous cobalt bromide was used instead of mer obtained by the process of this invention shows a cobalt bis-acetylacetonate, polymerization time was varied, rubber like property while the high molecular weight and the molar ratio of water/Al(C H was 1.0. The recrystalline polymer shows a resinous property. In gensults are shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Polymerization Vinyl time, configuration (Jo-compound hours Yield, g. percent Experiment number:

4 002(00): 2 1,29 91,6 1 1.61 94.1 6 o rz 1 2. 23 92.3 7 Tris-wally! cobalt 1 2,01 90, 4 8 Cyclopentadienylcobalt diearbonyl 2 1, 97 g 6. eral, since the polymer prepared by the process of this invention has good thermal stability and also a large number of carbon-carbon double bonds in the molecule, it can be easily vulcanized and is useful as a base polymer of a graft polymer.

7 EXAMPLE 3 8 EXAMPLE 6 In a 100 ml. glass tube were placed methylene chloride, butadiene, cobalt bis-acetylacetonate, the phosphine shown in Table 6, triethyl aluminum and water in this 5 order at 5 C. under a nitrogen gas atmosphere and then TABLE 3 Water! Polymer- Al(C 2H ization Microstructure, percent (molar time, Experiment number ratio) hours Yield, g. Sis-1,4 Trans-1,4 Vinyl EXAMPLE 4 the glass tube was sealed. The total volume of the mix- Polymerization of butadiene was conducted by the same procedure as in Example 1 while maintaining the molar ratio of water to Al(C H to 1.0 and varying the amount of triphenyl phosphine. The results thus obtained are shown in Table 4.

ture in the tube was 50 ml., the molar ratio of phosphine/ Co/Al/butadiene was 2/ l/ 215/ 1,000,000, the content of cobalt bis-acetylacetonate was 0.000928 millimol, and the molar ratio of water/Al(C H was 0.5/1.0 or

TABLE 4 Polymer- A, ization Mierostruetnre, percent molar time, Experiment number ratio hours Yield, g- (n) Sis-1,4 Trans-1,4 Vinyl 0 2.5 3.34 94.1 2.1 3.8 1. 0 16 2. 97 2. 96 6. 1 0. 4 93. 5 2. O 16 1. 58 2. 72 O 0 100 3. 0 16 2. 74 2. 4. 2 O. 9 94. 9 4. 0 l6 1. 12 2. 29 4. 7 0 95. 3 5. 0 16 1. 46 3. 07 9. 6 0 90. 4 10. 0 16 1. 42 2. 78 5. 0 0 95. 0

1 Control. A: Molar ratio of triphenyl phosphine to cobalt bis-aeetylaoetonate.

From the above results, it is confirmed that triphenyl phosphine is an inevitable component for preparing high vinyl containing polybutadiene and the content of vinyl configuration is not greatly influenced by the variation in the amount of triphenyl phosphine.

EXAMPLE 5 The same procedure as in Example 4 was repeated except that cobalt octenoate was used instead of cobalt bis-acetylacetonate.

The results are shown in Table 5.

0 confirmed to be amorphous. The results are shown in Table 6.

The 1,2-polybutadiene thus obtained was soluble in benzene, toluene, and isooctane, but insoluble in acetone.

TABLE 5 Polymer- B, ization Mierostmeture, percent molar e, Experiment number ratio hours Yield, g (7 Sis-1,4 Trans-1,4 Vinyl 1 Control. 13: PPh3]C0ba1t octenoate molar ratio.

TABLE 6 H20] Microstructure ercent Molnar, Phosphme Molar ratio Yield, g. (n) cis-1,4 Trans-1,4 Vinyl Experiment Number:

24 ((321193? 0. 5 0. 31 26. 2 0. 7 73. 1 1. 0 0. 59 15. 2 2. 2 82. 6 25 (021L921 (C5115) 0. 5 0. (15 20. 5 0. 5 79. 0 1. 0 1. 46 16. 9 2. 0 81. 0 25 (C2H5)P (Cal-1s): 0. 5 0. 72 B. 8 0. 2 91. 0 1. 0 1. 89 6. 7 1. 0 93. 1 27. (CiHiflaP 1. O 1. 44- 17. 2 0. 6 82. 2 28 (n-C4Hu)aP l. 0 1. 88 14. 8 0. 7 84. 5 (n-CaH-flal? 1. 0 l. 59 19. 0 0. 7 80. 5

9 EXAMPLE 7 In a 100 ml. glass tube were charged 17 ml. of methylene chloride, 4.64 ml. of 1 mmol/ liter methylene chloride solution of bis-triphenyl phosphine cobalt bromide, 40 ml. of a 1.38 mol/liter methylene chloride solution of butadiene, 2.02 ml. of 1 mol/liter methylene chloride solution of triethyl aluminum, and a predetermined amount of water in this order at 5 C. under a nitrogen gas atmosphere, and then the glass tube was sealed. The polymerization reaction was conducted for 20 hours at C. while stirring.

After the end of the polymerization reaction, the content was poured in methanol containing a small amount of antioxidant, phenyl-fl-na-phthylamine, whereby the reaction was stopped and at the same time the polymer produced was precipitated. The precipitate was separated and dried under a reduced pressure at room temperature. The results are shownin Table.7.

TABLE 7 The results are shown in Table 9.

TABLE 9 Cobalt Hallde- Polymer- Vinyl, Experiment Phosphine lzation Yield, pero. Complex time, hr. percent (17) cent CoB12(Et2P)z 180 80 1.79 99 40- C0BI2(EtzPhP)2 180 78 1. 66 95 41- COBl2(EtPh2P)2 180 67 2.13 99 42 CoBl2(PhaP)2 15 42 3.12 99 43 CoClz(EtsP)2 1B0 81 1.75 99 44 COCl2(PhaP)z 15 28 3. 49 99 45 oI2(Et P)2 180 61 1. 49 96 46 C0I2(Ph P)2 60 33 4.04 94 Et stands for ethyl group and Ph stands for phenyl group.

EXAMPLE 10 In 100 ml. glass tube was charged 38 ml. of methylene chloride and distilled water was added thereto. Thereafter, there were added 6.8 g. of 1,3-pentadiene, 2.0 millimols of triethyl aluminum and 0.005 millimol of a cobalt compound-phosphine complex compound in this order. The aforesaid procedures were all conducted under a nitrogen gas atmosphere.

Hflol After sealing the glass tube, the polymerization reac- Triethyl lvlwrflstwelm'mpercent tion wasconducted at 10- C., while rotating the glass Experiment Al, molar Number ratio Yield, g Cis-1,4 Trans-1,4 Vinyl tube in a polymerization bath for a predetermined period 0 01 O of time. The tube. was opened and a small amount of 9.1 Trace III:IIIIIIIIIII:I: p y -fip y was immediately" added therein 8.2 8.5% 13-1 .3 22% followed by stirring thoroughly, whereby the polymeriza- 8 96 5 0 5 tron was terminated. The reaction mixture was poured into 18 1.18 6.0 0 a hydrochloride methanol solution containing the antioxidant to decompose the catalyst and at the same time to Control. precipitate the polymer thus formed. The precipitated polymer was separated, washed with methanol containing EXAMPLE 8 the antioxidant sever al times, and then dried for one night in vacuum at C. The results are shown in Table The same procedure as in Example 7 was repeated us- 35 10.

TABLE 10 Polymerizgililxgl 12 nfi t Trags-IA con- -co um 10 Experiment No. A B hr. Yield, g. ('n) percer l t i -c 831. 47 l COBI2 l 2 6. 54 0. 21 5 95 4g CoBrz(PPl13)z 1 2 1.96 2.59 95 5 49 ooBmPPmEm 1 2 2.84 3.09 98' 2 50 CoBrgGlPhEtzh 1 2 1.88 2.56 99 1 51 CoBrztPEtah 1 2 1.48 2.27 99 1 52 COBrg(PEta)2 0 50 0 1 Control.

A: Cobalt eompound-phosphine complex compound. B: HzO/AJ.(C2H5)3 (molar ratio).

ing triisobutyl aluminum and trihexyl aluminum instead of triethyl aluminum. The results are shown in Table 8.

TABLE 8 Ha o/Al oompd., Polymer- Mierostrneture, percent molar ization M Experiment No. Aluminum compound ratio time, hl Yield, g. (Dis-1,4 Trans-1,4 Vinyl 37 v u 21 3 g g 32 0. 5 20 0. 23 9. 2 0 90. 8 as Tnhexvl 81111111911111 EXAMPLE 9 Butadiene was polymerized according to the following polymerization recipe.

Polymerization recipe:

As is clear from the above table,. it is confirmed that in the control experiment 47, wherein phosphine is not used, 1,2-polymer is not obtaine'd 'but trans-1,4-polymer ispbtained instead. Also, it is confirmed that in the control exp'eriment52 wherein substantially no water was present (about 3 p.p.m.), the catalyst has no activity.

EXAMPLE 11 The same procedures as in experiments 48 and 51 in Example 10 were repeated except that tri-isobutyl aluminum was employed instead of triethyl aluminum and the polymerization was conducted for 5 hours. The re- Polymerization time Varied sults are shown in Table 11.

TABLE 11 As is clear from the above table, it is confirmed that the Go-compd.- 1,20 amount of water has to be in a range of 0.25-1.50 mols Phosphine figuratlon per one mol of the organo alummum and particularly Experiment Yield (1) Percent about equi-mol ratio is preferable.

53 CoBr (P1 1102 1.74 1.43 97 54 CoBrZ(PEta)2 2.69 2.94 99 5 EXAMPLE In the example, there are shown the results obtained EXAMPLE 12 by adding a cobalt compound and phosphine separately The polymenzation of methylpentad1ene-l,3 was coninstead of using the cobalt compound-phosphine complex. ducted by the same cond1t1ons as 1n expenment 48 of Ex- The polymerization procedure was the same as in Example 10 except that the polymerization penod of time was 10 ample 10 but the addition order of ingredients into a glass 5 hours. By the procedure, 1.06 g. of a polymer conslstlng tube was a solvent, water, a monomer, an organo alumialrnost of 1,2-configurat1on was obtalnednum, phosphine, and a cobalt compound, respectively. The

TABLE 14 Q 1 Polymer- Experlization Vinyl ment Cobalt Organo 1 time, can fig., number Monomer compound M11101. aluminum Mmol. Phosphino Mmol. Solvent Ml. hr. Yield percent (1;)

07 Isoprene Co-OctJ 0.005 111133 0; 2.0 PEt 0.01 Metllrylieine 38 24 0.24

ch or e. as -do Co-Oct. 0.005 AlEta 2.0 P(Ph)Et, 0. 01 -.do 3s 5 1. 57

000101101 0.005 AlEta 2.0 PEn 0.02 -.do as 21 0.1a 00010116), 0.005 111E123 2.0 P(Ph)Eta 0.01 do. as 5 1.22 do 00010110), 0.002 AlEta 2.0 PEt; 0. 004 Toluene as 24 0.05 Pentadiene- 00(ACAC): 0.002 Ala-Bub 1.0 P(Ph) 0.001 Metlzlliyllfie 19 3 0.10

1 0 0 e. 73 -do Co-Oct. 0.005 Ala-Bu); 1.0 PEt, 0.01 d 19 a 0.90 Co-Oct. 0.005 Ala-Bun 1.0 P(Ph)El7l 0. 01 19 a 0. 86 00-Oct. 0. 005 AKi-Bu); 1.0 P(Ph)1Et 0.01- 19 a 1.21 Co-Oct. 0.005 1110-1311); 1.0 P(Ph)3 0. 01 o- 19 a 1.39 00000. 0.002 .AlEt; 1.0 P(Ph)1 0. 004 Toluene-- 19 5 0. 72 00010110 0. 002 AKi-Buh 1.0 P(Ph) 0.004 Methylene 29 1s 0. 09

' chloride.

Cobalt octenoate. I 4 H30 stands forisobutyl group. 2 Cobalt bis-ecetyl acetate. 5 P11 stands for phenyl group. 3 Et stands for ethyl group.

EXAMPLE 13 molar ratio of water to organo aluminum compound was O Polymerization recipe: 1.0, the reacnon temperature was 10 C., and other Iwprene g 8 polymerlzation conditlons are shown 1n the Table 14 t0- Cobalt compound-phosphine g Z l T results complex mmols 0.005 c l 2 O 1. A process for the preparat1on of an unsaturated hy- Tr1ethyl aluminum mmo s Water mmols 20 40 drocarbon polymer havmg a h1gh percentage of vmyl con- S 01v em mls figuration which comprises contacting an unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer having 4-10 carbon atoms and represented by the general formula The polymerization of isoprene was conducted at 10 C., by the same procedure as in Example 10 according to the above polymerization recipe. The results are shown in Table 12. wherein R represents a member selected from the group TABLE 12 Polymer- 3,4-c0nization figuration, Appearance of Experiment No. A Solvent tune, hr. Yield g. (1;) percent polymer 1 00131 Methylene chloride.... 18 5. 09 0.29 13 Viscous liquid. 57 C0Brz(PPh5)2.. Toluene 15 0.50 62 Rubbery. 53 COBI'zCPPhzEt): Methylene chl0r1de-- 15 2.21 1.60 62 Do. 59 CoBr2(PPhEt2)2 d0 2 3.18 3.94 64 Do. 00,- COBrztPEt-zh ---do 2 1.20 1.94 55 Do.

1 Control. A: Cobalt compound-puosphine complex. 7

EXAMPLE 14 consisting of hydrogen atom and methyl group and R and R represent, respectively, a member selected from Polymenzatlon reclpe: the group consisting of hydrogen atom, an alkyl group 6.8 ggi ga H 1 i (L005 havmg 1-6 carbon atoms and an alkenyl group having AMCZH 2 5 3 2 u mmols Z0 l-6 carbon atoms, with a catalyst prepared by mixing the 2 5 3 n u following in a solvent selected from the group consisting Water Var1ed Meth gig'g 'g mls 38 of hydrocarbon and halogenated hydrocarbon solvents:

y (A) a cobalt compound, Isoprene was polymenzed by the sameproccdure as 111 (B) a phosphine repmsentgd by the general f l Example 10 at 10 C. for 3 hours accordmg to the above 4 5 6 polymerization recipe. The results are shown in Table 0 PR R v wherein R, R and R represent, respectively, a mem- TABLE 13 112 I I Al(CzH5)3, 3,4-b0nd, Appearance 0t Experiment N0. molar ratio Yield, g. (17) percent polymer 0 0.25 0.50" Rubbery. 0.75 D0. 1.00 Do. 1.50

1 Control.

ber selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group, an aryl group, and hydrogen atom,

(C) an organo aluminum compound represented by the general formula wherein R R and R represent, respectively, a member selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group and an aryl group, and

(D) water in an amount of 0.25l.50 mols per one mol of said organo aluminum compound.

2. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer is butadiene.

3. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer is isoprene.

4. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer is 1,3-pentadiene.

5. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer is methylpentadiene-l,3.

6. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer is 5-methylheptatriene- 1,3,6.

7. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the molar ratio of the cobalt compound to the organo aluminum compound is from 1:1 to 1:2000 and the molar ratio of the cobalt compound to the phosphine is from 110.5 to 1:100.

8. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the amount of the catalyst is from 0.001 to 1 milli-mol based on the amount of the cobalt compound per one mol of the monomer.

9. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the temperature of preparing the catalyst is from to 50 C.

10. The process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer is contacted with the catalyst at a temperature of 20 to 100 C.

11. A process for the preparation of an unsaturated hydrocarbon polymer having a high percentage of vinyl configuration which comprises contacting an unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer having 4l0 carbon atoms and represented by the general formula wherein R represents a member selected from the group consisting of hydrogen atom and methyl group and R and R represent, respectievly, a member selected from the group consisting of hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having l-6 carbon atoms and an alkenyl group having l6 carbon atoms, with a catalyst prepared by mixing the following in a halogenated hydrocarbon solvent:

(A) at least one cobalt compound selected from the group consisting of an inorganic acid salt of cobalt, an organic acid salt of cobalt and a complex compound of cobalt,

(B) a phosphine represented by the general formula wherein R R and R represent, respectively, a member selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group, an aryl group, and hydrogen atom,

(C) an organo aluminum compound represented by the general formula wherein R", R and R represent, respectively, a member selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group and an aryl group, and

(D) water in an amount of O.251.50 mols per one mol of said organo aluminum compound.

12. The process as claimed in claim 11 wherein said coba t compound is selected from the group consisting of cobalt bisacety'lacetonate, cobalt bromide, cobalt octenoate, dicobalt octacarbonyl, cobalt trisacetylacetonate, tris-1r-allyl-cobalt and cyclopentadienylcobalt dicarbonyl.

13. The process as claimed in claim 11 wherein said phosphine is selected from the group consisting of triphenyl phosphine, triethyl phosphine, diethylphenyl phosphine, ethyldiphenyl phosphine, tricyclohexyl phosphine, tri-nbutyl phosphine and tri-n-propyl phosphine.

14. The process as claimed in claim 11 wherein said organo aluminum compound is selected from the group consisting of triethyl aluminum, triisobutyl aluminum and trihexyl aluminum.

15. A process for the preparation of an unsaturated hydrocarbon polymer having a high percentage of vinyl configuration which comprises contacting an unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer having 410 carbon atoms and represented by the general formula wherein R represents a member selected from the group consisting of hydrogen atom and methyl group and R and R represent, respectively, a member selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group having 16 carbon atoms and an alkenyl group having l6 carbon atoms, with a catalyst prepared by mixing the following in a solvent selected from the group consisting of hydrocarbon and halogenated hydrocarbon solvents:

(A) a complex compound represented by the general formula CoX (PR R R 2 wherein X represents a halogen atom and R R and R represent, respectively a member selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group, an aryl group and hydrogen atom,

(B) an organo aluminum compound represented by the general formula AlR R R wherein R R and R represent, respectively, a member selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group and an aryl group, and

(C) water in an amount of 0.251.50 mols per one mol of said organo aluminum compound.

16. The process as claimed in claim 15 wherein said complex compound is selected from the group consisting of bistriphenyl phosphine cobalt bromide, bistriethyl phosphine cobalt bromide, bisdiethyl phenyl phosphine cobalt bromide, bisethyldiphenyl phosphine cobalt bromide, bistriphenyl phosphine cobalt chloride, bistriethyl phosphine cobalt chloride, bistriphenyl phosphine cobalt iodide and bistriethyl phosphine cobalt iodide.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 665,208 6/1963 Canada. 669,058 8/ 1963 Canada. 718,987 9/ 1965 Canada. 905,001 9/ 1962 Great Britain.

JOSEPH L. SCHOFER, Primary Examiner R. A. GAITHER, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 260-93] 

